Nightingales
by GunRecon 11
Summary: Katniss leaves Rue as the Games victory, and rebellion begins to stir. In District 11, Peacekeepers are being shot, entire weapons shipments disappearing...is it possible the last Games were as devastating as they seemed?


**HELLO!**

**I've up and decided that not writing A/N's is boring. I feel so detached from you guys when I do that, and that sucks. So lets not.**

**I'll be entirely honest, a good portion of me just hasn't been feeling up to it. I don't know, writing on my phone just took away any sort of fun, y'know? Having to jury-rig a system that allows me to post is a pain too.**

**Been working on this concept for too long, so I hope this time is the one. It'll bounce between Rue, Katniss, and a 3rd-person omniscience, so feel free to ask for clarification if you're confused.**

**Allons-y!**

**Rue POV**

Cato's cannon sounds, and a million questions hit me at once, as if every other outcome of the Games just crammed themselves into my head at once. Out of all this pondering, one rises to the top:

_Now what?_

If I'm completely honest with myself, I should run. Run for the tree's, like I always have, like I have been in this arena for the last two weeks. But if Katniss wanted to shoot me, she would have before killing Cato, and nothing was stopping her on this wide plains that had taken the lives of so many. I would be a sitting duck to her; not even worthy target practice. Still, it would be good television. It would also prove another Capitol point: As shrewd as running may be, brute force would catch up and take me down. So like the Capitol and an dissidents, the arrow and the coward

So I turn to Katniss and smile. To tell her it's okay, that she can do this, because there isn't a chance I would be able to take my own life. I'm not that strong. I can hardly resist the panic, the primal urge to either attack or flee even though neither would do me any good.

The mutts disappear into their holes, and Katniss stands over Cato, eyes glazed over in shock at what they've done to him. I try not to look at him, despite the carnal urge to look and laugh with glee. He's made my life, Katniss' life so difficult and taken so many others. I'm not glad to see him go, but I'm not upset either. Maybe a pair of sadists from 2 will be long in coming again now that they, too, have had their tribute tortured mercilessly.

"He's dead." She whispered. "After all that, he's just dead. It just doesn't seem..."

"...real?" I finish for her, and she nodded slowly, eyes still fixated on the shredded corpse in front of her. Finally, as the wind picks up to signal an approaching hovercraft, she lifts her head to look at me, as if not understanding that I'm still here, still breathing. She stooped down, and, shakily, pulled her last arrow out of Cato's skull.

"It's okay, Katniss." I whispered, and the hovercraft blocks our lines of site as it lifts Cato into the abyss. When it flies away, Katniss has her bow drawn, but it's pointed at the ground. I nodded gently, and slowly, shame in her eyes, she raised the bow.

**Katniss POV**

It had to be me.

No, it _had_ to be me, didn't it? Because I'm the only one besides Thresh who would take care of her. I'm the one who stayed up for first watch and let her sleep until morning, I'm the only one strong enough to shield her from fireballs, tracker-jackers, and Careers, and I'm the only one in a position to live to tell about it. I promised to go home to Prim, but I swore on Thresh's deathbed to protect Rue. I owe Thresh my life, and should pay him back, but I owe Peeta too. I told Gale I would do anything to win, but he couldn't possibly expect this...?

I made the mistake of letting this stranger into my heart, and now I may as well point be pointing a bow at my sister. Figures, too. Dad said I was always too protective of my sister for my own good. All those fights at school when the fifth graders tried to pick on the little first-year who wouldn't hurt a fly, all those late nights stuck outside the fence because some idiot decided to flip the switch that night, all those tesserae taken out so she could eat, and now I was going to shoot it all down, wasn't I? She'd hate me, even if she didn't say it. Gale would never look me in the eyes again, and I'd go down in history as the girl who shot a 12 year-old.

I threw down the bow in disgust. This wasn't me. The Games changed me, just as Peeta feared. They'd changed Rue, too. She's got a sad smile on her face, and she shakes her head telling me that it's okay. That I can kill her, but we both know I can't. I pull out my dagger, and slowly walk towards her, trying to make this moment last forever so I don't have to choose. Me, or her. I live, she dies She lives, I die. There can be no other option, and I have a sneaking suspicion that the odds won't be in Rue's favor when the mutts return. So it has to be me. Did they want this? Did the Gamemakers engineer the entire arena just for this?

I'm standing less than a foot away from her now, and Prim...no, Rue...Rue just nods gently, and like that, I've made my decision. She's letting me live, and I'm the one conflicted about killing this little girl. She gives her own life, so young and hopeful, so I might live, and I'm greedy enough to even consider taking it.

I could live a thousand lifetimes and never deserve to talk to this girl. And all I had was this one.

I'm out of time, but a decision has been made. I smile softly, and suddenly, I know why she was smiling too. Knowing you were about to die was kind of...liberating. I was finally free to do as I chose, and what I chose to do was this.

"Close your eyes, little dove." I said gently, and she complied without hesitance. Gently, so as not to disturb her, I pulled the Mockingjay pin off of my shirt and slipped it into her coat pocket. After taking three steps back, I spun on the spot and looked straight ahead where I assumed to be a camera. Slowly, I raised the knife to my throat. With my other hand, I did a three fingered salute, and calmly whisper:

"Here is the place where I love you."


End file.
